The Night Circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it and it is only open at night.

The first 150 pages of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern were painfully slow. P.A.I.N.F.U.L.LY. S.L.O.W. Really the only thing that kept me going was that it was recommended to me by a friend and he is hardly ever wrong about books. I think the first 150 pages took me WEEKS to read. Did I mention painfully slow? But once Morgenstern laid out all the puzzle pieces, things finally started coming together and beautifully so. While the end, for many, might be a disappointment, I thought it was eloquent and elegant how everything came full circle.

The plot is simple, against the backdrop of a mysterious Victorian circus that appears and disappears around the world without warning. Operating in the deepest hours of night, two master magicians release their protégés in a battle of magical one-ups…to the death.

The Night Circus has probably one of my all time favorite quotes:

“Secrets have power. And that power diminished when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it’s really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”